Potato salad
Potato salad sits in our salad collection for warm evenings, BBQ sides, and desk lunches that still feel fresh. We keep the voice practical — what to buy, what heat to use, and how to tell when it is done. Serves 6–8 with about 15 min prep and 15 min cook time (around 2 hr 30 min (includes cooling) total). That is a home estimate — ovens and pans vary, so use colour and texture as well as the clock. Shop first for floury potatoes, cooking salt and streaky bacon; those ingredients do the heavy lifting for flavour and texture, while the rest of the list seasons, binds, or finishes the plate. Good for warm evenings, BBQ sides, and desk lunches that still feel fresh. Double for a crowd; keep dressing separate until the last minute. Keep Australian cup measures (250 ml) so the ratios match what we tested on the page. We write salad recipes so you can cook from your phone on the bench: large checkable ingredients, numbered steps, and notes you can skim while the pan heats.
Ingredients
Method
- Shake French dressing ingredients in a jar.
- Start potatoes in cold salted water. Once simmering, cook about 4 minutes until just tender (still a bit firm). Drain at once.
- Toss hot potatoes gently with French dressing. Leave 2 hours to absorb flavour and cool.
- Cook bacon from a cold pan until crisp; chop. Mix mayo, sour cream, horseradish, salt and pepper.
- Fold creamy dressing, celery, cucumber, onion and most of the bacon through the potatoes.
- Serve at room temperature, extra bacon on top. Even better after a few hours or overnight.
Tip: Dress the potatoes while hot so flavour goes inside, not just on the surface. Floury potatoes beat waxy here. Do not overboil or they fall apart.
Notes
- Shopping and mise en place: read the full ingredient list once before you start. For Potato salad, floury potatoes and cooking salt are the items that decide whether the dish tastes flat or properly seasoned. Weigh where grams are given — volume cups are fine for liquids and some dry goods, but baking ratios are tighter if you use scales. Australian cups are 250 ml; a tablespoon is 20 ml and a teaspoon is 5 ml.
- From our tested tip, expanded: Dress the potatoes while hot so flavour goes inside, not just on the surface. Floury potatoes beat waxy here. Do not overboil or they fall apart. Treat that as the non-negotiable. If something still feels off — too wet, too pale, too tight — adjust one variable at a time (heat, liquid, or bake time) rather than changing three things at once.
- Why this page is written this way: we keep the story short and put the value in practical detail — ingredient order, heat cues, and storage — because that is what helps a home cook succeed on a Tuesday night. If a step feels unclear, email [email protected] and we will tidy the wording on the next pass.
- Putting it together for Potato salad: work clean, taste as you go, and do not rush browning or reduction steps if they appear in the method. If you are cooking for mixed diets, plate sauces and toppings separately where practical. Keep this page bookmarked if it becomes a household regular — we update wording when cooks report a confusing step. Metric consistency across Scoops & Dishes means once you trust the cups and scales here, breakfast through dessert behaves the same way.